We can add one more case to the list of government shutdowns. Politico has an interesting article about the implications that the government shutdown has on Tim Pawlenty’s presidential bid, suggesting that the current state of the budget could come back to bite him. I’m not so sure. I don’t think he’s a viable candidate in the first place – so this is marginally unimportant. To be sure, these pre-primary days are pretty volatile, but Intrade has him at 9% for the GOP nomination, while Nate Silver seems rather lukewarm.

College football and politics mix again. Heath Shuler (D NC-11) is considering leaving Congress to serve as the Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee. This is certainly a rare move, but it actually makes a good deal of sense. As the Politico story points out, he’s not exactly endeared himself to leadership and his district is about to redrawn unfavorably. Moreover, he’d be returning to his alma mater, where he held nearly every school QB record until some guy named Peyton Manning showed up. He would certainly restore some pride in a Tennessee athletic department that has seen its reputation sullied in the past few years. Here’s guessing that there’ll be a lot more orange ties in Shuler’s closet by this time next year (hopefully Bruce Pearl took his orange blazer with him when he left).